Nightmares
by PinkFan-Gurl
Summary: Kyo finds it odd that Tohru's out in the woods at twelve in the morning.


**Nightmares**

It wasn't that Kyo hated his bedroom, but...okay, he really hated his bedroom. Like, _really_ hate his bedroom.

It was small, cramped, and always smelled like socks, but the worst part was that his room was next to Yuki's. Kyo could pick up even the slightest bits of of motion coming from the other side of the wall and the constant reminder of being so close to the damn rat only made Kyo more restless. That's why during the summer months he would spend several nights in a row up on the roof.

The coolness of the tiles against his sweaty, aching body had a way of calming him down. Just being outside, with the fireflies and chittering crickets, was ten times better than being cooped up in his room where it was over a million degrees. (Might as well add the poor ventilation system to the list of reasons he hated his room.)

Kyo hadn't even known he had been drifting in and out of sleep until an ominous creak somewhere below him caught his attention. Who would be up at this time of night other than him?

Creeping up to the edge, Kyo peaked over the side of the roof. For some reason, he had expected it to be Yuki or maybe Shigure, but it was somewhat of a surprise when he saw Tohru gliding down the path from the front door to the woods.

Several aspects of the scenario were really out of order; one of them was that Tohru was walking towards the woods in the dead of the night in a white nightgown and that was discluding the fact that she hadn't even bothered to close the front door. Just what was that girl doing?

"Tohru?" he hissed, hoping he was loud enough to hear from far away, but she just kept trotting deeper into the woods slowly. "Ah geez."

The redhead easily slid down from the roof to the ground. Tohru wasn't moving fast either, so catching up to her hadn't even made him break a sweat. "Tohru, what the hell are you doing?"

Like before, Tohru made no move to indicate that she had seen him, let alone heard him. Instead, she continued to glide in some aimless direction, mumbling inaudible words to herself.

"Tohru," Kyo reached for her shoulder, hoping to get her attention, but she whirled to face him before he could even touch her. The frantic look on her face and tears in her eyes caught him off guard more than when he saw her leaving the house. "W-why are you crying?" he questioned hesitantly.

"I need to find her!" Her petrified voice made Kyo pause. Something was really wrong. "She could be dying right now!"

Her body was trembling, but Kyo wasn't sure if it was from whatever delusion she was going through or if the heat was getting to her. Maybe she was dehydrated and experiencing a mirage of some sort? Whatever it was, it pained Kyo to see his friend so broken down. "Listen, Tohru," Kyo crouched down to where she was cowering in the mud, "I'm not sure what your brain is trying to trick you into thinking, but we need to go back to the house. If we call Hatori, I'm sure—"

Tohru suddenly grabbed his wrist roughly, sending a warning signal throughout his body that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "You can't," she said, her eyes dead serious. For a minute, Kyo was afraid that he was the one who didn't understand the situation.

Then he narrowed his eyes at her. "Who are you trying to save Tohru?" he demanded, ripping his arm away from her. She didn't move, but instead stared at the ground. Kyo ground his teeth, giving her shoulders a firm shake. "Damn it, Tohru, _wake up_ and tell me who you are trying to save."

The glassy film that had been covering her eyes seemed to clear up. "My...mother…"

Tohru blinked, finally seeming to take in her surroundings for the first time since he chased her into the woods. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes and her hands, covered in loose soil, clasped at the skirt of her nightgown. "It seemed so real," she whimpered, and Kyo could hear her in her voice that she was struggling to not break down in front of him. "Mom….?"

Kyo sat up on his knees, towering over her slightly, then placed a comforting hand on her head as she cried. "You were sleepwalking, I think."

"Kyo." Tohru wiped her nose with the back of her hand as she looked up at him. Her eyes were completely waterlogged and her cheeks were rosy. The utter defeat in her voice made him want to punch a tree. "It just seemed so real."

He stayed quiet for a minute in an attempt to let her calm her breathing. He may not be the best of listener the way Yuki seemed to be, but Kyo wasn't going to screw this up. "It was about your mom, wasn't it?" he asked after a few minutes went by.

The frail girl nodded, using the heel of her hand to wipe away the ever falling tears. "This time it wasn't a car...I was there." Her breathing hitched and the trembling of her body intensified. "Forgive me, Kyo."

Kyo frowned. "Forgive you for what?"

Tohru twisted her fingers in her hands. "For thinking ill of Akito...in my dream h-he—he tried—and Mom?"

The sudden flare of anger that erupted in the pit of Kyo's stomach was equivalent, if not exceeding, the anger he felt when Yuki was around. What had Akito done to Tohru? It hadn't been two days since the meeting between her and the head of the Souma family and now she was running through the woods because she was afraid that Akito was going to hurt her mom? Kyo wanted to scratch Akito's eyes out.

"Come on." He stood up suddenly, catching Tohru off guard by her gaping mouth. He nodded down at her stained nightgown and dirty hands. "You're covered in mud and your face is red. Let's go back."

He didn't wait for her response before grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet gently. "I'm sorry," she mumbled from behind as they walked.

Kyo scoffed, guiding her around a fallen log that she probably would have stumbled on had he not been there. "Don't apologize when you haven't done anything wrong, ya idiot. It's just annoying." He regretted his words the instant they left his mouth. "W-what I mean is that you don't have to apologize about being scared of Akito or for leaving the house."

She didn't reply out loud, but she did tighten her grip on his hand, making his heart-rate double. He thought he heard her mumble "thank you" behind him but he was too embarrassed to confirm it.

When they arrived back at the house, Kyo led her to the kotatsu table. "Sit here, okay," he murmured quietly, giving her a slight push towards the floor. She was stiff, probably still unnerved from whatever nightmare that made her leave the house, and needed guided direction in her movements. "I'm going to grab you clean clothes."

Tohru nodded numbly, keeping her eyes lowered. Her fragile state made him worried to leave her, but he didn't think she looked comfortable in her mud-caked clothes, so he charged up the stairs two at a time with a goal to be back in less than two minutes. Having night vision compounded with Tohru's clean room made it easy to find a spare shirt and sweatpants.

"I could have gotten you shorts," he said when he had returned from up stairs. He handed her the small bundle, "but I didn't want to seem like a pervert."

Tohru smiled slightly, hugging the bundle to her chest. "Thank you for everything, Kyo. You can go to bed now. I'm so sorry for keeping you up."

Kyo snorted, once again annoyed by her constant apologies. She deserved every ounce of help she needed and shouldn't feel like she was a burden. Of course, none of those words actually made it's way out of his mouth. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he demanded somewhat harshly.

Tohru started, eyes wide as she stared at him. "Waiting for what?"

"To change." He blew out a breath he had been holding and sighed. "Go on and change. Then you should go to bed too."

Tohru shook her head softly. "I think I'm going to stay up for a while."

Kyo wiped his hand down his face exasperatedly. He did not rescue her from the woods and get her clean clothes only for her to sit in the dark living room by herself for seven hours. "Tohru, it's twelve in the morning; go change."

"I-"

"Will you just do it?"

Tohru nodded, taking the change of clothes into her arms, and made her way to the bathroom in a zombie like walk. He noted that, though not as intense as before, her arms and legs were still shaking. She was still scared.

A minute later, Tohru stepped out in orange pajama pants and a black shirt. He cracked a smile. "You look like a cat."

Tohru blushed, which for some reason made Kyo's stomach flutter. "I'm going to go put this-"

"Don't worry about it." Kyo took her dirty nightgown from her and dropped it on the ground. "Yuki can get it tomorrow. Let's go."

He was slightly surprised when she nodded obediently without protest and even more so surprised when she led him up the stairs. Kyo stopped in front of his door, waiting for Tohru to enter her room but she just stared at her own door like it led to some sort of evil dungeon. "Tohru?" he asked, holding back a groan.

Tohru peeked over her shoulder so that he could only see half of her face. "I'm sorry. I'm going."

Kyo sighed loudly, then clicked his door shut before crossing the hall and shoving Tohru's door open. "Making me do everything tonight I see," he grunted, pulling back the covers on her bed.

Tohru blinked, a bright blush covering her cheeks. "K-kyo? What are you-?"

Kyo rolled his eyes, patting the empty spot on the bed next to him. Subconsciously, he noticed how the air conditioning actually worked in her room. "I'm not going to do anything weird," he snapped. He tried to resist blushing when his eyes met Tohru's gentle ones, but when he failed miserably, he rolled over onto his side so that his back was to her. "But you obviously don't want to be alone and I don't want to get blamed if you end up sleepwalking off into the woods again."

Somewhere behind him, Kyo heard Tohru's soft voice hum. A second later, the lights were out and she was crawling into bed alongside him. Her breath on his neck tickled, instantly sending a swirl of butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

She nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck tenderly, but far enough away so that he wouldn't transform. Kyo exhaled softly, relaxing into the pillow. It wasn't the roof, but this was probably better anyway; he had something soft to lay on, the air conditioning worked _,_ and there was _her_.

Grinning to himself slightly, Kyo closed his eyes.

2/10/17


End file.
